Iron Rattler Commercial Shoot
Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of attending the commercial shoot for the all-new Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. I learned about this opportunity via Twitter a week or so ago and immediately applied to participate. Since I am just home for a few weeks, I didn't have any other kinds of commitments and was fully available. The shoot was supposed to take place on Thursday, but storms were expected and so all the filming was moved to Wednesday.
I got up about at about 5 am and left for San Antonio around 5:45. Traffic in Austin was not bad, but by the time I got to San Antonio, traffic was backed up on I-35 and the 1604 loop. Regardless, I got there a little before 8 am when it was scheduled to start. There were about 200 people there total, with some coming later or leaving early. They took pictures of us with a nameplate and then escorted us through the empty park to the food area next to the Gully Washer. We were able to get breakfast, and then they gave us the rundown of how the day would go. Basically, we just stood there for many hours while they tested the ride, put us into groups for different shots, and then had us wait some more. I was paired with a younger girl who had finished all her school work early so she could miss that day. There were actually a good number of kids there, accompanied by their parents. The first group of participants did not get to ride till 11:30, partially due to technical difficulties and cloudy weather.
I finally got to ride about an hour after lunch (once all the brisket had settled!) and it was amazing. Six Flags did not really provide much instruction about how we should perform. Basically, they wanted natural, happy reactions while trying to avoid looking terrified or in pain. Additionally, we were asked to not look at the cameras or swear verbally. Some cameras were mounted on the ride while others were at various locations on the ride's track. Later in the day, they used a "helicopter" to take aerial shots of us while riding. I used quotations because they made it seem like they were going to have this huge chopper flying over the park to get footage of the whole ride. What they actually used was this little RC, wasp-sounding thing with a camera strapped to it. It actually provided a good laugh seeing that thing floating at different spots around the track. Hopefully it provided some good footage, too.
They asked for volunteers to go ride some other attractions while taking aerial footage to give the effect of the park being open and busy. Some people rode the Scream and SkyScreamer while others got to ride Superman: Krypton Coaster. I opted to just stay and ride the Rattler. By about 5 pm, they had collected pretty much all the footage they wanted. We were then allowed to just ride non-stop from there on out. There were a few people there who had now ridden it more than 25 times. I personally lost count, but it had to have been at least 15 for me. By the end of the day, I was sincerely beat, but still running on excitement and adrenaline. The drive back to Austin seemed to fly by and I was back home by about 8 pm.
Does it still rattle?
So now we'll get down to the nitty-gritty: What is the ride like? In one word, EPIC! (That's the marketing team's buzz word for it) The Iron Rattler was built by Rocky Mountain Construction, the same company that re-made the Giant at Six Flags Over Texas just a couple years ago. The track layout is similar to the old Rattler's, except the triple helix section of the ride no longer exists. The ride features a 171-foot drop at an 81 degree angle. From side shots, the drop looks (and feels) vertical. This new drop height is almost 50 feet taller than the old Rattler. The girl I rode with told me that she couldn't breathe during the first drop, and I will confirm that it is pretty intense. Also, the new top speed is 70 mph, a little bit faster than the old rattler.
Throughout the track, there are several overbanked turns and airtime hills. The highlight, however, is an amazing zero-gravity roll that keeps you completely weightless while spinning in the air. Between that and the previously mentioned hills, you'll spend a lot of time out of your seat on this ride. The ride ends by plummeting off the canyon wall (another fantastic airtime moment) into a tunnel. As a caution to those of you looking to check this one out, you might want to hold on for dear life as you're coming out of the tunnel. For whatever reason, they decided to ditch the old station fly-by and, instead, the ride brakes as soon as it leaves the tunnel, resulting in a whip-like effect on your everything. It's not unbearable, but still surprising. The rest of the ride is quite smooth and natural. Also, the nasty,thigh-crushing restraints found on the Giant were thankfully withheld from the Iron Rattler.
The Iron Rattler truly lived up to expectations and I highly recommend it to everyone at least 48" tall. Check out Six Flags Fiesta Texas' Facebook and Twitter pages for more pictures and updates. Enjoy the POV testing footage:
Although there were plenty of long waiting periods, it was all worth it to get early access to one of the best new coasters this decade. I will never get another chance to experience that ride so many times in a row. I got to meet some awesome people and learn more about the amusement park industry and ride promotions. I especially want to thank my friend Brent, a fellow theme-park enthusiast who I met there, for sharing his pictures with me. Media day for the Iron Rattler will take place on Wednesday May 15th. Be sure to check this one out once it opens to the public!
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